World War II AircraftBetter known as the Stuka (Sturzkampfflugzeug; 'dive-bombing aeroplane'); the Ju 87's inverted-gull wing and fixed spatted undercarriage combined to give it the appearance of an attacking bird of prey; appropriate for the aircraft that spearheaded Germany's attacks on Poland; Norway; Belgium and France and which sank enough ships in the English Channel during June and July 1940 to cause the temporary halting of merchant convoys through the Straits of Dover. The Ju 87 A 'Anton' first saw combat with the Legion Kondor in Spain in 1937; by 1939; it had been superseded by the more powerful and efficient 'Bertha' with double the bomb-load. The Junkers Jumo 211D engine of 1;184 hp gave the Ju 87 B a top speed of about 210 mph at low level; a single 7.92 mm machine gun in each wing provided a strafing ability and a single flexible one was fitted for rear defence. Maximum bomb-load was one SC 500 (1;102 lb) bomb carried on the swing-out trapeze under the fuselage and two SC 50 (110 lb) bombs under each wing; although normally the SC 500 was replaced by a SC 250 and the small bombs would be omitted for long-range sorties. Terrifying to the uninitiated; dive-bombing and recovery was controlled automatically and accurate; but provided a zero-deflection shot to anti-aircraft gunners prepared to hold their ground. Quite manoeuvrable when lightly loaded; the Stuka's slow speed made it vulnerable to fighter attack; as its crews discovered when faced by the RAF over Britain. Its short range of only 370 miles with an 1;102 lb bomb-load dictated that it could only attack targets on or near the south coast where RAF defence was concentrated and most effective; which resulted in losses heavy enough to cause its withdrawal from the Battle to wait to support the invasion that never came. The Stuka illustrated belonged to StG 76; which fought in Poland and France before becoming StG 3 in July 1940 and the Luftwaffe's main dive-bomber unit attacking southern England; participating in the attacks on airfields of 18 August 1940; the 'hardest day' of the Battle of Britain. The unit reverted to its StG 76 title in 1941; when it moved to the Balkans to support the invasion of Yugoslavia.Illustration (Tim Brown); 2019.